This document summarizes the development of less fire-prone cigarettes. It describes how research in the 1980s and 1990s identified cigarette design features that influence ignition propensity and led to the development of a standardized test method. New York was the first state to implement regulations requiring cigarettes to meet an ignition propensity performance standard in 2002. Data since then shows the new cigarettes have reduced fire deaths attributed to cigarettes by around half in New York. The standardized test method and reference cigarettes have now been adopted internationally and by most U.S. states. Continued data collection and test method refinements are ongoing areas of work.

1. Less Fire-prone Cigarettes:
Fire-
How We Got to the 1st Plateau of Success…
Richard G. Gann, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Fire Research Division
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
rggann@nist.gov
gg @ g
www.bfrl.nist.gov
4th World Conference on Fire Safe
Cigarettes
October 29, 2009

2. Why Less Fire-prone Cigarettes?
Fire-
• Cigarette-initiated fires are still the largest single cause
of fire deaths (2006 data, NFPA)
– 143,000 fires
– 780 deaths
– 1600 reported injuries
– $606 million in property damage
– $4 billion total direct cost (1992)
• Today, commercially feasible, less fire-prone products
are in the marketplace
p

3. Prior Activity
• Contention between the furnishings industries and the
cigarette industry regarding who would change their products
• Cigarette industry “won”
• Simple,
Simple effective test methods developed
– Mandatory standard for cigarette resistance of mattresses,
administered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
– Voluntary mandatory and pending standards for cigarette
Voluntary, mandatory,
resistance of furniture
– Federal standard for ignition resistance of loose-fill insulation
• Slow turnover of furnishings; limit now reached
• Rapid turnover of cigarettes

4. Action on the Other Front
• “Fire-safe” cigarettes are a century-old id
“Fi f ” i tt t ld idea
• Could not have regulation (or manufacture) of cigarettes without
a measurement method for ignition propensity
• Prime sponsor of Congressional legislation: (late) Joseph
Moakley, with (late) John Heinz and (late) Alan Cranston
– Cigarette Safety Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-567)
98 567)
– Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-352)
• Extensive research led to a new state of cigarette testing
methodology

5. Technical Study Group (1984-1987)
(1984-
• Identified properties that might affect ignition
propensity:
– Paper porosity very important: low = better
– Paper burning additive less important: none = better
– Tobacco density (mass) very important: low = better
– Cigarette circumference important: low = better
– Filter tip important: presence = better
• Variation of cigarettes within commercial
bounds could produce large changes in
ignition propensity
• Excellent agreement between cigarettes
tested on real chairs and on mock-ups of
the same materials.

6. Patented Approaches
• Five patented cigarette embodiments submitted in response to
Federal Register notice:
– Very low porosity p p with added p
y p y paper perforations
– Fire retardant added to center of tobacco rod
– Cellulose bands on paper
– Application of chemical to outside of p p
pp paper
– Intumescent powder added to tobacco column
• All showed reduced ignition propensity relative to the same
cigarette without the patented feature

7. Other TSG Conclusions
• The best experimental cigarettes had ignition propensities considerably
lower than commercial cigarettes
• Some low ignition propensity experimental cigarettes had average per
puff CO, tar, and nicotine values comparable to commercial cigarettes
• “It is technically feasible and may be commercially feasible to develop
cigarettes that will have a significantly reduced propensity to ignite
upholstered f it
h l t d furniture or mattresses. Furthermore, the overall impact on
tt F th th ll i t
other aspects of the United States society and economy may be
minimal. Thus it may be possible to solve the problem at costs that are
less than the potential benefits, assuming the commercial feasibility of
p g y
the modified cigarettes.”

8. Technical Advisory Group (1990-1993)
(1990-
• P t t
Prototypes of two test methods d
ft t t th d developed, correlated with each
l d l t d ith h
other, and showed very good interlaboratory reproducibility
– Mock-up Ignition Method
– Ci
Cigarette Extinction M th d
tt E ti ti Method
• Tested (1992) commercial cigarettes, finding some that were of
reduced ignition propensity
• Showed that brands of fire-starting cigarettes could be identified
• "The Technical Advisory Group, by a vote of 11 to 4, believes
that sufficient technology and information is available to deem
practical the development of a performance standard to reduce
cigarette ignition propensity."

9. 1993 – 60 Minutes: “Up in Smoke”

10. Technical Basis for Tests
• Tobacco column must burn long
enough and intensely enough for
the upholstery fabric/padding to
begin smoldering
• Filter paper, like the fabric,
absorbs heat
• A less fire-prone cigarette has
too little energy left over to raise
the fabric temperature enough or
even to continue burning

11. ASTM E 2187: Standard Test Method for
Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes
• Simple method with technical s pport
ith support
• Usable for all cigarettes that burn a
tobacco column
• Lay a lit cigarette on 3, 10, or 15 layers
of cellulose filter paper
• Determine whether cigarette burns the
full length of the tobacco column or not
• Determine percent failures in 40 trials

12. Typical Test Results

13. Action Timeline
• 2000 – NY Law (Assemblyman Pete Grannis)
• 2001 – NIST verified that the test market Merit cigarettes
showed much reduced ignition propensity
• 2002 – R fi d Ci
Refined Cigarette Extinction Method adopted as
tt E ti ti M th d d t d
ASTM E2187-02b
• 2002 – NY rule set: ≤ 25 PFLB on 10 layers of filter paper
• 2003 – Analysis of historic data showed that test results have
been stable for a decade, despite minor method changes
• 2004 – ASTM method refined to become ASTM 2187-04; no
effect on test results
• 2009 – Refinements of ASTM procedure

14. Standard Reference Cigarette
• Plain i
Pl i cigarette with non-banded paper
ih b d d
• PFLB measurements by NIST, NRC-
Canada, Kidde-Fenwal
• 12 6 % ± 3 3 % full length burns
12.6 3.3 full-length
• Near design point to comply with the
25 PFLB regulatory criterion
• Enables quality assurance a d qua y
ab es qua y assu a ce and quality
control for manufacturers, testing
laboratories, and regulators
• Available since February 2006
• Cost per carton: $188

15. International Acceptance 2009
“Firefighters and fire safety people have an entrepreneurial
Firefighters fire-safety
style about them. All it takes is one or two guys to make
something happen. It’s no surprise that you start to get this
nonlinear, exponential expansion of a grassroots movement.”
• 49 States
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Finland
• Estonia
• Soon: European Union
• Under consideration in
Japan

16. Where Would They Help?
Reduction of cigarette initiation of fires
involving:
– Upholstered furniture
– Mattresses and bedding
– Trash
– Wildlands
BUT these cigarettes are not fire-safe!

17. Effect of New York State Rule
• In effect as of June 28, 2004
• .42 fire deaths/year (
y (2000-2003)
)
• .27 fire deaths/year (2005-2007)
• Actual reduction of about half

18. Issue Being Resolved
• Upholstered furniture, mattresses and insulation need to
furniture mattresses,
be tested using a full-strength cigarette
– Testing with a weaker cigarette would let more ignitable
materials into the marketplace and offset the gains from FSC
cigarettes
• The original specified test cigarette is now FSC
• NIST has developed specifications for a cigarette
equivalent to the original
• A standard test cigarette (SRM 1196) will be available this
winter
• Regulatory and voluntary actions must follow

19. Live Issues
• We need data to indicate reductions in cigarette-initiated
cigarette initiated
fires and the life loss from those fires
• There are likely to be some modifications to ASTM E 2187
as a result of the broader use of the method
– Every effort is being made to ensure that these changes do
not affect the test outcome
– Need more participation from regulators and their test labs
• There is already interest in further reducing cigarette-
initiated fires (assuming that the early data scale
nationwide)

20. Cigarette Ignition Propensit
Propensity:
How We Got to the 1st Plateau of Success…
Thank you for your
interest!
i t t!
rggann@nist.gov
Go to: www.bfrl.nist.gov
“Highlights”
“Less Fire-prone Cigarettes”